


Blue Is the Warmest Color

by grettama



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-10
Updated: 2015-11-24
Packaged: 2018-04-30 23:10:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5183168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grettama/pseuds/grettama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In retrospect, there was always one love from your past that you could never entirely forget no matter how hard you tried. Being their first, it was all the harder to abandon. That was how Taiga & Daiki felt towards each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Beta-ed by the amazing [ChihiroKensei](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ChihiroKensei/pseuds/ChihiroKensei) !!!

_Name three things that will always come back no matter how many times you think they are dead._

_Jean Grey. Disco. Love._

Kagami Taiga read those words somewhere. Maybe when he accompanied Kuroko Tetsuya to their campus library years ago. Before this, those words never once came across Taiga’s mind. So, why now?

When Taiga was ten years old, he remembered he sat quietly in an airplane next to his father. Five years later and the death of his mother, he lived nomadically in Japan, while his father finally landed a job in America.

Soon afterwards, the moment Taiga stepped foot in the country of Uncle Sam, he immediately felt that he didn’t like this country at all. He didn’t understand what people said and the culture was too difficult for a ten year old to understand. But he didn’t say anything to his father about it.

His father registered him in an elementary school near their apartment, but he never bothered to converse with the other kids. He went to school each morning, sat silently in his seat, fought real hard to understand basic things in the lessons and failing miserably, because he hadn’t been able to grasp English at all. After school, he took a bus to his English tutorial, not socializing there either. At home, his father was constantly immersed in his work leaving Taiga alone who always had music blasting through his ear buds. Taiga closed himself.

Until one day, eleven year-old Taiga crossed paths with Tatsuya. Tatsuya was his first friend. A year older than him, popular, and everyone liked him. Tatsuya had his own way to make Taiga opened up, and shortly, they felt like brothers. Taiga always imagined if he wasn’t an only child, he would have an older brother like Tatsuya, and Tatsuya also admitted that Taiga was just like a little brother he never had.

Tatsuya introduced Taiga to two favorite things in Taiga’s life. Alexandra Garcia, and basketball. He even made Taiga change his mind around about America for the better.

When Taiga felt he would probably be happy again for the first time since his mother died,  was when fate decided to wake him up to meet cruel, harsh reality.

“If you can beat me in one-on-one this time, Taiga, you can stop considering me as your brother.”

2 days later, Taiga fled. He couldn’t pull through, postponing the inevitable one-on-one, so he packed up and boarded the plane for Japan. ‘ _How could Tatsuya say that to him.’_ He thought as he stared out the jet window. Maybe happiness was a word that couldn’t exists after-all in Kagami Taiga’s dictionary.

Until Aomine Daiki appeared.

Taiga’s first impression when he met Daiki was, ‘ _what a jerk’_. After Taiga knew him a little better, he knew Daiki wasn’t a jerk at all. He was an asshole.

His ego was as high as the sky, with his catch-phrase, “The only one who can beat me is me,” and so many other bullshit. Even with only one word, he could always get on Taiga’s nerves.

So, what is the relation between his happiness and Daiki, you ask? What made Daiki his source of happiness even though couldn’t be in the same room for more than ten seconds without bickering?

Well, when Seirin beat Touou in the Winter Cup, that was when Daiki started to change. Well, he was still the biggest asshole Taiga has ever known, still had pride bigger than Mount Fuji, still annoying, and still pissed Taiga off, but he _has_ changed. Taiga wouldn’t ever admit that out loud, but he could finally start to see the other side of Daiki. The side Kuroko and Momoi always talked about.

Since then, Taiga’s been thinking hard. Taiga & Daiki were more-or-less, two sides of the same coin. Their unceasing love for basketball spoke volumes, more than they ever could. Just maybe, could they be friends? Taiga was still afraid, however,  that what happened with him and Tatsuya would happen again. Daiki and Tatsuya even shared similar resemblances, both being able to break Taiga out of his shell. Daiki just did things.. in his own way.

He invaded Taiga’s personal space. He would barge into Taiga’s apartment all the time. Even though Taiga was annoyed with that since the beginning,  gradually with the prodding and help of ( _SO_ many) friends, especially Kuroko and Momoi. Taiga  & Daiki had finally realized that they were interdependent of each other. That they were two parts, of one whole.

Daiki was Taiga’s first kiss. Daiki was Taiga’s first love. Even though all that happened when they were still only sixteen. Taiga knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with his Daiki.

Sixteen year-old Taiga foresaw his future so perfectly. He was really sure about what he wanted, and he was also sure that Daiki wanted the same thing too. They knew that they would be together till up to end of the line.

But then again, people say “Don’t count the chickens before all the eggs hatch...”

Graduation day arrived in a blink of an eye. Lot’s of things happened over the course of this time including when Daiki’s parents found out about his relationship with Taiga. They immediately set Daiki up with Momoi for a shotgun marriage. Nothing they could say or do about it.

Daiki didn’t explain anything to Taiga. Taiga didn’t need any explanation either. Taiga went back to America the day after, and cut all ties with Daiki just like that, like they never even knew each other.

From strangers to friends, friends to significant others, and back again to being strangers.

Yet, “there were three things that would always come back no matter how many times you think they are dead.”  Love, being one of them.

* * *

 

In retrospect, there was always one love from your past that you could never entirely forget no matter how hard you tried. Being their first, it was all the harder to abandon. That was how Taiga & Daiki felt towards each other.

Fifteen years had gone by since the first time they kissed. Taiga remembering faint traces of Daiki in the back of his mind as he stood at the station waiting for the train. Even after fifteen years, everything he knew about Daiki was still kept closely in the deepest parts of his heart. Yet when the stars aligned for Taiga & Daiki to meet again out of the blue, for the first time in fifteen years, the thoughts and emotions he suppressed under lock and key, seemed to burst out uncontrollably.

“Taiga?”

The way Daiki said his name sounded so alienated, yet very familiar to his ears. Taiga could only stare back into Daiki’s deep blue eyes. None of him has changed.

Daiki stepped forward close to Taiga, but not too close, stopping just two feet away. Their one inch difference in height suddenly becomes more prominent which catches Taiga’s eye. Even after years, Taiga could never forget that.

The only thing Taiga wanted to do right then right now was close the distance between them and hug Daiki with all his might, but he knew he wasn’t suppose to do that; He wasn’t allowed. What if he ended up not wanting to let go? A simple hug that would just make him yearn for more.

“Daiki,” replied Taiga. 

“You came back from America?” asked Daiki. His tone was as calm and cool as ever. It made Taiga felt that he was the only one who still harbored these warm feelings.

Taiga forced a smile and nodded. “Last month,” he answered. Yes. They were adults now. He had resolved to move on from Daiki, the moment he boarded that plane back to America, and he couldn’t waver now.

Even though, there were so many things Taiga wanted to say.‘Sorry,’ being one of them,  because he had left without saying anything. ‘I miss you,’ being another,  but he couldn’t say that now, nor ever. ‘How are you?’ because Taiga really wanted to fill the void of fifteen years with everything about Daiki. ‘Are you still playing basketball?’ because Taiga isn’t anymore, since basketball reminded him too much about Daiki and he wanted to know whether Daiki felt that way too about basketball.

In the end, Taiga could only smile and say, “I’m home.”

Daiki reciprocated his smile. “Welcome home.”

Taiga nodded at that and without exchanging any more words, they walked into different directions.

**-tbc-**

**Disclaimer: Fujimaki Tadatoshi for the characters. Julie Maroh for the title. John Goode for the first two lines in this story. And Marvel for ‘till the end of the line’ words.**

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This time, she was going to be the one to ask Daiki to stop. He really should stop putting himself in harm’s way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously, this story can't ever be done without the help of the absolute [ChihiroKensei](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ChihiroKensei/pseuds/ChihiroKensei) !!!

Satsuki heard the sound of the door creaking and she knew that her husband had come back home.

“Daiki?” She called from the bedroom. After ten years, the way the words rolled off her tongue still felt strange calling Daiki with his proper given name instead of her favorite ‘Dai-chan’.

The blue haired man entered their room and smiled lazily. It was very late at night. Satsuki knew Daiki had took the last train home. He plopped himself down on the bed next to her and let out  a small sigh.

Satsuki studied her childhood friend. For anyone else, what Daiki shown was just a sign of fatigue after a long day at work, but Satsuki knew better. She had been studying Daiki for most of her life.

Ever since their arranged marriage, Satsuki knew that something like this would happen. She kept wondering ‘when’, and now when it was here, Satsuki had been prepared, but instead of jumping into conclusion, she wanted to hear it from Daiki first-handedly.

“Did something happen?” she asked.

Daiki turned towards Satsuki and gave her a little smile. He pulled Satsuki closer to kiss her forehead and cuddle her. “Nah, it’s fine. Just another rough day at work. I’ll be fine once I sleep it off.”

Daiki kissed the top of Satsuki’s head again reassuringly and closed his eyes. But Satsuki couldn’t stop fretting. She could feel her eyes well up with tears  and used all her might to hold them back.

_‘Dai-chan, please stop hurting yourself.’_

* * *

 

Satsuki had been friends with Daiki as far as she remembered. She couldn’t even picture her life without Daiki in it. They were in the same kindergarten, in the same elementary, in the same middle school, in the same high school, and even now, they lived in the same house.

It was not an understatement at all if someone said that Satsuki knew Daiki like the palm of her hands. Also, not surprisingly, back then in high school, Satsuki was the first one who realized what Daiki felt toward Kagami. Even before Daiki realized love himself.

After a very long pep talk from Satsuki during a sleepover throughout the whole weekend, Satsuki could finally shove the fact through Daiki’s thick skull that he was in love with Kagami, and that the other probably felt the same way. That’s why Daiki needed to muster up the courage to confess before he slips away.

“Kagamin is too good for you, Dai-chan, and you know it,” Satsuki said at that time. “So if you aren’t going to say to him about how you really feel, someone else will, and you’ll regret it forever.”

Daiki looked at her with a deep frown. If the situation wasn’t important, Satsuki would’ve laughed at Daiki who was deep in thought. A thinking face would never suit Daiki.

“What if he said no? You can’t analyze people’s feelings as accurately as basketball statistics, Satsuki. What if I grossed him out by confessing? I’ll no longer have a one-on-one partner as great as him! I can’t stand to lose that,” Daiki groaned and buried his face into one of Satsuki’s pillow.

Satsuki smiled and patted her best friend's hair soothingly. “Kagamin is an open minded guy. He won’t shut you out. But I’m a hundred percent sure he likes you too. And I’m not talking based on statistics,” she added while Daiki shot a skeptical glare at her. “It’s based on my woman's intuition, something so complex you won’t understand. Beside, it’s better you regret something you’ve done than regretting something you’ve never done.”

Daiki just pouted at those words, glaring to the ceiling.

Satsuki giggled. “Tetsu-kun will agree with me. If you won’t believe me, just believe in him.”

Daiki stared blankly at Satsuki, considering her words.

“But, you know,” Satsuki said in a cheerful tone, “If you really do confess and he does say yes, you owe me a shopping date where you can’t whine at all.”

The next day Daiki came to her classroom early in the morning sporting a very big grin in his face, a goofy smile so genuine that for a moment, Satsuki was taken aback to when they were in middle school. Musing to herself, Satsuki couldn’t help but smile back too, Hugging him tightly.

“Tell me!” Satsuki dragged Daiki out of her class into a quiet corner and asked for details.

Daiki smiled shyly— _‘Aw, he’s adorable,_ ’ she thought mockingly—and nervously scratched his neck.

“I confessed to him after our one-on-one session,” Daiki explained. “I’m not really sure what was happening, but I kinda just blurted it out.”

“What did you say?”

Daiki cleared his throat and said, “’I’m gonna kiss you now, if you can stay still, I’ll consider us going out’.”

Satsuki covered her mouth with her hands and giggled.

“Dammit, Satsuki! I know it’s cheesy but that was the only thing I could say! I’m…uh, it’s still so weird saying ‘I like you’ to Kagami.”

Satsuki tried to hold back her laughter. “It’s so hard saying ‘I like you’ to Kagamin but it’s not hard at all to kiss him out of the blue?”

Daiki flushed red and choked on his own spit. “Shit. I messed up, right?”

Satsuki smiled from ear-to-ear. “Kagamin kissed you back, right?!”

Daiki nodded.

She continued, “Then you didn’t mess up! Just treat him properly like a good boyfriend or Tetsu-kun will kill you.”

Daiki nodded again.

“And you owe me a shopping date, Dai-chan.”

* * *

 

Satsuki loved seeing Daiki and Kagami together. They were like the cutest couple ever. Seeing them made Satsuki’s heart warm. It felt like a mother’s sentiment towards her son—no one could blame her for feeling that way towards Daiki—all grown up. Satsuki knew that Daiki and Kagami was something that would last forever.

However, from time-to-time, a woman’s intuition could be wrong. Satsuki didn’t actually know how it happened, but on their graduation day, her parents suddenly came up to her and said that she was going to marry Daiki, end-of-question.

She thought is was a joke. A terrible, horrible joke. But when she bursted into Daiki’s room, discovering a curled up Daiki in bed, sobbing silently. Satsuki’s heart had shattered completely.

“What should I do, Satsuki?” Daiki asked in a breathy, hoarse voice as Satsuki approached the bed, sitting beside him.

Having no answer for that, Satsuki could only hug him. “It’ll be okay, Dai-chan. It will.” She whispered reassuringly.

But both of them knew, it wouldn’t.

* * *

 

Everything went downhill from there. The next day Satsuki tried to reach Kagami, but Kuroko told her that Kagami already flew back to America. She relayed back to Daiki, but Daiki remained completely quiet. He was silent for the whole day, and then a week, and then,  in that month, he barely said anything at all.

Satsuki and Kuroko tried to cheer him up. They brought him to a basketball court, and that was when Daiki spoke for the first time in a long time.

“I don’t wanna play basketball anymore. Not without him,” he said, before walking away.

No one would ever thought that Satsuki was an individual capable of hate. But only after Daiki spewed out those sickening words did she realize how badly both their parents ruined everything. She absolutely seethed with anger. She _hated_ them. They striped away Daiki’s happiness just so they could masquerade their son to be _normal_.

Yet, In spite of that, she went through with the marriage, because at least, that way she could keep Daiki close and keep him from getting hurt ever again. Afterall, It was better Daiki married her than some other girl they both barely knew. A girl who knows nothing about what happened once-upon-a-time between Aomine and Kagami. It wouldn’t be fair to the girl too.

Satsuki spent the first two years of their “marriage” secretly looking for Kagami. Until one day, Daiki found out what she was up to.

“Satsuki, stop.” he commanded. Satsuki wanted to ask why, but then she saw the agonizing sadness, seated deeply in his pleading orbs of dark blue, making her instantly, retract her thought.

* * *

 

Fast forward to the present, she sees Daiki walking into their room. Immediately, she knows that something happened. The spark in Daiki’s eyes  has come back to life just a little. This time, she was going to be the one to ask Daiki to stop. He really should stop putting himself in harm’s way.

**-tbc-**

**Disclaimer: Fujimaki Tadatoshi for characters. Marvel for ‘Not without him’.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I was wondering if after all these years you'd like to meet to go over everything. They say that time's supposed to heal ya, but I ain't done much healing. I'm in California dreaming about who we used to be, when we were younger and free. I've forgotten how it felt before the world fell at our feet. There's such a difference between us, and a million miles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-ed by [ChihiroKensei](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ChihiroKensei/pseuds/ChihiroKensei)  
> Seriously what can I do without him.

It was a day in the summer. Taiga & Daiki laid side by side under a tree beside their court— _their_ court, because it was the very same court where they met for the first time.

Their breath was fast and heavy after playing so many one on one sessions until they couldn’t even move anymore. Their sweaty arms brushed against each other lightly, but none of them seemed to mind. They could hear cicadas’, loudly chirping from somewhere in the background. The whole situation was very nice and somehow soothing.

Daiki was the first one to get up. He groaned and reached for his water bottle on the other side of Taiga, looming over the redhead. Taiga couldn’t help the urge to flick Daiki’s throat when he was drinking, made him choked.

“What the fuck?!” he asked, half laughing half choking.

Taiga just laughed at that, and let Daiki tickle him as a punishment.

“Sorry… stop… please,” Taiga begged, but Daiki didn’t even give him a moment to rest. As a last resort of defending himself, Taiga pulled Daik down by his shirt and landed a kiss on the bluenette’s lips.

It worked wonders. Daiki stopped tickling him and started to focus on the hungering teen before him, kissing him back with equal ferocity.

It was one of the best days of his life.

* * *

 

Taiga opened his eyes only to be greeted by a woman’s looming glare over him, blocking the doorway of his room. She wore a simple white blouse and had a cup of coffee in her hand, leaning against the door frame casually.

“Morning, sunshine,” she said. Her short hair was a little bit wet. Maybe she just got out of shower.

Taiga forced out a smile to her and tried to forget the dream he just had.

“It’s my turn to make breakfast, I hope bacons and eggs are enough for you,” she said again, sipped on her coffee and sat down on the bedside.

“Nice,” Taiga responded. His voice was still hoarse from sleeping. “Where are you going? It’s still—,“ Taiga checked the alarm clock on the buffet next to the bed, “—six in the morning?”

“I have an early morning meeting. I have to go now, see you after work,” she said, leaned in to kissed Taiga’s lips. She smelled like flower and Taiga liked it.

But deep down, he knew that it wasn’t his favorite smell at all.

“Okay, take care, Amber,” Taiga pecked her cheek and let her ruffled his hair before she finally walked out the room.

Taiga closed his eyes and the dream came back. He still could feel the kiss like it was only yesterday. Even though he was just kissing Amber.

Taiga sighed and got up. He was able to live without him for fifteen years. Why would just one encounter weaken his resolve?

* * *

 

Taiga met Amber a year after his high school graduation. While Taiga was ‘American born Japanese’, Amber was ‘American born Chinese’. They quickly became close because of surfing. After three years of being the bestest of friends, Amber got into an accident.

Taiga still remembered how Amber cried silently after the doctor told her that in order to save her life, they had to removed her uterus. Amber was not the type of girl who would cry a lot. She was fearless. But seeing her in a broken state like that, Taiga wanted to help her.

After she got out of the hospital, Taiga asked her to marry him. Amber rejected him at first, but in the end, she gave in.

Maybe Taiga didn’t love Amber as much as he loved Daiki. But Daiki was his past. He wanted to be happy with his life, and be with someone who could make him happy. Daiki used to be that person, but now, it was Amber.

And Taiga was indeed happy with his marriage. They both loved surfing, had fights sometimes but nothing couldn’t be taken care off. Amber also helped his father with his company while Taiga worked as a chef.

Two months ago, Amber said she wanted to live in Japan out of the blue.

“I’ve talked to your dad. He agreed to move me into the company’s Japan branch. You can also buy a place there to make your own restaurant! You always say you wanna have your own restaurant, right? Now is the time to live the dream!”

To be honest, Kagami wasn’t sure he wanted to go back to Japan or not. Tokyo wasn’t a small town. There was only a small chance he would meet again with Daiki. So his lack of response was—to the overly-optimistic Amber—an automatic yes.

* * *

 

But here he was now, sitting alone in his kitchen table. Fate must be messing with him. Just a month after he moved back, he bumped into Daiki already. And no matter how far he thought he had moved on, he actually hadn’t moved away a single step. His heavy heart was stuck in that time. Like fifteen years ago when Daiki first kissed him under a basket ring.

And now he felt extremely stupid. They both already had their own life, and actually happy with it. Amber didn’t deserve this. Taiga didn’t want to leave her just for the first love he knew would never work. He already promised himself that he would make Amber happy, and he would keep his word, and do just that. There was no place for him to dwell in the past. Amber didn’t know anything about his past, and he intended to keep that way. No more casualties.

Taiga finished his huge amount of breakfast and was about to get into shower when he heard his phone rang. Taiga threw his towel over his neck and walked back into the living room to find his phone.

A call from an unknown number.

Taiga’s heart skipped a beat. _‘No way.’_

But his thumb worked faster than his brain. He already pressed the answer icon before he could think of the consequences. He had no choice but to say, “Kagami Taiga’s speaking.”

When he heard a woman voice answered him from the other side instead of the suave voice who still haunted his dreams, he was torn between relief and disappointed. But those feelings didn’t stay long.

“Kagamin?” that woman said.

Only one woman ever called him that, and he wasn’t ready to face her now.

**-tbc-**

**Disclaimer: Fujimaki Tadatoshi. Adele’s Hello keeps me inspired.**


End file.
